NOVEMBER 2018
Choose Your Co-Founder with Care
In the past few decades, some of Silicon Valley’s most famous companies have been started by a duo: Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Jerry Yang and David Filo, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak.
The success of these duos has resulted in what venture capitalist Mark Suster calls the “co-founder mythology,” the belief that you must have a co-founder in order to start a new company that thrives.
But while it’s not necessary to start a business with someone else, it is vital that if you decide to have a partner, you evaluate fit beyond the basics of hard-skills.
Consider these questions when sizing up a potential co-founder.
Do we share expectations of what it means to co-found? Instagram co-founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger say they got lucky—of all the founder pairs they know, they seem to fight the least. To ensure that your co-founder relationship has a similarly harmonious future in store, the Instagram duo suggest that you and your partner agree not just on the product you’re building but also the kind of commitment you’ll bring to the project. “If you’re in it for the long haul, make sure [your partners] are in it as well.”
Do we line up on values? Sameer Dholakia, CEO of SendGrid, says that when it comes to finding the right co-founder, having complementary technical skills is important but having aligned values can be even more so. “You’re going to spend more time, arguably, with that co-founder than you do with your spouse."
Are you willing to spend your whole lives together? Again and again, entrepreneurs and investors have said that you should choose your co-founder as carefully as you’d choose your spouse. In a podcast with Stanford Professor Bob Sutton, Delfina Restaurant Group co-owners Craig and Annie Stoll talk about how as a husband-and-wife team, they navigate the daily hiccups that come with owning seven Bay Area restaurants.
Bonus: Learn which details Craig and Annie micro-manage and which ones they don't!
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